Phillies eliminate 104-win Braves, move to NLCS
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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — In a year of high payrolls missing the postseason and 100-win teams flaming out early, the stars on the Phillies proved free agency still works.
Led by Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Game 4 hero Nick Castellanos, the Phillies vanquished the Atlanta Braves in their division series matchup for the second consecutive season.
Castellanos, who signed a five-year, $100 million contract before the 2022 season, hit two home runs in Thursday’s 3-1 clinching win, one day after doing the same in Game 3. He is the first player in postseason history with back-to-back multihomer games.
“When we were 16, 17 years old, playing for Team USA, he did the same stuff,” a bare-chested, champagne-soaked Harper said after the win. “In the biggest tournaments, on the biggest stage, that’s Nick Castellanos. And that’s why he’s here.”
Castellanos signed with the Phillies a day after Kyle Schwarber signed for $79 million. One year later, it was Turner’s turn. He inked a $300 million deal last winter — $30 million less than what Harper signed for in 2019. The money has been well spent. Harper hit two home runs in Game 3 while Turner added one in both Games 3 and 4.
“[President of baseball operations] Dave Dombrowski has been around the block a lot,” owner John Middleton said during the celebration. “He understands that. You have to trust Dave. He knows the character of the guy you’re signing.”
Dombrowski added: “I have always felt like every good club has to have a core of veteran players and a group of young players coming up. It starts [with] Bryce, but we added to that mix.”
The free agents fueled the series win over the Braves, but it was one of the young players who might have saved Game 4. With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a ball to center field that Phillies rookie Johan Rojas tracked and caught as he leapt against the wall. It ignited the sold-out crowd at Citizens Bank Park — one of the more hostile environments in the game.
“This is the most unbelievable home-field advantage in baseball right now,” Dombrowski said. “I’ve never really seen anything like this.”
The Phillies steamrolled the Braves in Games 3 and 4 — first by taking it to young starter Bryce Elder on Wednesday then following it with three home runs against ace Spencer Strider in the clincher. Philadelphia gave Atlanta a taste of its own medicine, outhomering the Braves 11-3 in the series, including nine in the two home games, tying a postseason record for home runs in back-to-back games. The Braves led MLB in long balls during the regular season but came up short in this series.
“Well, to start with, Trea and Harp and Nick, I mean I can’t tell you how big they are on our club right now,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I don’t think the moment gets them at all. In fact, the moment, I think, helps Harp a little bit. But Trea has been unbelievable. That home run he hit today was huge. Nick’s two home runs were huge. Harp’s two home runs yesterday were huge. Those guys just — they step up.”
Meanwhile, the Braves, who topped the majors with 104 wins in the regular season, are left with unanswered questions. Like, why have they dominated the regular season but can’t get it done against their division rival in the postseason?
“That’s a good question,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I wish I had the secret sauce for that. I feel like last year all of a sudden, they got everybody healthy. And they got big-time players on this team. Yeah, I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
The Braves might also be left wondering how their midseries controversy impacted the outcome. Shortstop Orlando Arcia had to answer questions after yelling “atta-boy Harper” in the Braves’ clubhouse after Game 2’s ending, when the Phillies star got doubled off at first base. Harper’s stare down of Arcia after hitting two home runs Wednesday immediately went viral, prompting Arcia to tell reporters Harper “wasn’t supposed to hear it.”
That quote ended up on the back of a T-shirt worn by one Phillies player during the celebration after Game 4.
“It’s fun,” second baseman Bryson Stott said. “I don’t know what it did for us, but the crowd loved it.”
The crowd also loved the record-breaking homers from Castellanos. He was featured on the scoreboard after his second one Thursday, soaking in the limelight usually held for Harper or others.
“Whenever you have 46,000 people cheering you on and trying to get the other team out of their comfort zone, that’s a huge advantage,” Castellanos said.
The environment will make for an interesting National League Championship Series as the Phillies will host a young Arizona Diamondbacks team in Game 1 on Monday. Led by their powerful veterans, the Phillies are one step away from returning to the World Series for the second consecutive season. This time, they aim to finish the deal.
“Eight more to go,” Dombrowski said. “It really starts with our stars.”
Penn State has fired coach James Franklin after 12 seasons, the school announced Sunday.
Franklin is owed more than $49 million, according to his contract. It’s the second-biggest buyout in college football history behind only Jimbo Fisher’s $76 million buyout from Texas A&M.
Associate head coach Terry Smith will serve as the Nittany Lions’ interim head coach for the remainder of the season, the school said.
Less than a year removed from an appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Franklin’s program appeared to hit a new low when the Nittany Lions traveled out to Los Angeles two weeks ago only to lose to UCLA, a team that not only was winless but hadn’t previously held a lead all season.
The woes flew back home with the team to Penn State, and with them came “Fire Franklin!” chants at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. The Nittany Lions dropped their second straight home game, and third overall, when they fell to Northwestern 22-21 in front of a stunned crowd at Happy Valley.
With the two losses, Penn State became the first team since the FBS and FCS split in 1978 to lose consecutive games while favored by 20 or more points in each game, according to ESPN Research.
In Saturday’s defeat to the Wildcats, the Nittany Lions committed six penalties for 71 yards in the first half alone. They simply could never get out of their own way, and that was before quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth quarter.
Earlier in the season, when the losing streak began against Oregon at Happy Valley, Franklin fell to 4-21 at Penn State against AP top-10 opponents, including 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams.
Franklin’s .160 winning percentage against AP top-10 teams is tied for the third-worst record by a coach (minimum 25 games) at a single school since the poll era began in 1936, according to ESPN Research.
Hired in 2014 in the wake of Bill O’Brien’s departure for the NFL, Franklin inherited a team still feeling the effects of unprecedented NCAA sanctions in the wake of Jerry Sandusky’s sexual-abuse crimes.
Armed with relentless optimism and an ability to recruit, Franklin’s program regularly churned out NFL-level talent, from Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley to Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons. Franklin guided the Nittany Lions to the 2016 Big Ten title and a seemingly permanent spot in the rankings.
There was hope this fall might be the season when Penn State would finally break through and win its third national championship and first since 1986. Yet after three easy wins during a light nonconference schedule, the Nittany Lions crumbled.
Athletic director Pat Kraft said the school owes Franklin an “enormous amount of gratitude” for leading the Nittany Lions back to relevance but felt it was time to make a change.
“We hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships,” Kraft said.
The move will cost Penn State at a time the athletic department has committed to a $700 million renovation to Beaver Stadium. The project is expected to be completed by 2027.
Former athletic director Sandy Barbour signed Franklin to a 10-year contract extension worth up to $85 million in 2021. According to terms of the deal, Penn State will have to pay Franklin’s base salary of $500,000, supplemental pay of $6.5 million and an insurance loan of $1 million until 2031.
It’s a steep price, but one the university appears willing to pay to find a coach who can complete the climb to a national title.
“We have the best college football fans in America, a rich tradition of excellence, significant investments in our program, compete in the best conference in college sports and have a state-of-the-art renovated stadium on the horizon,” Kraft said. “I am confident in our future and in our ability to attract elite candidates to lead our program.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Oregon State has fired coach Trent Bray in the wake of an 0-7 start, the school announced Sunday.
It is the worst start for the Beavers since 1991, when they started 0-10.
“I want to thank Coach Bray for the energy and determination he brought to the role,” athletic director Scott Barnes said in a statement. “… This was a difficult decision, but the results on the field were not acceptable and after evaluating every aspect of the football program, I believe it is in the best interests of OSU football student-athletes, our fans and our university.”
Bray, an Oregon State alum who got promoted to the head coaching job after Jonathan Smith left for Michigan State following the 2023 season, finishes with a 5-14 record after taking over in 2024.
Robb Akey, who was in his first year as special assistant to the head coach, has been named interim coach for the remainder of the season. He was the defensive coordinator at Central Michigan from 2019 to 2024.
Bray is expected to be owed a little more than $4 million in buyout money, as he was in the second year of a five-year contract. The school said the buyout will come from donor-generated funds.
The move comes after a difficult start for the Beavers, which included heartbreaking losses at home to Houston and on the road at Appalachian State. Wake Forest handily won in Corvallis on Saturday, 39-14, with a backup quarterback starting for the Demon Deacons.
“I’m frustrated. I’m disappointed. I look at myself, and I’ve got to fix it,” Bray said after Saturday’s game. “It’s unacceptable to me where we’re at. That’s just how I look at it. What can I do? I’ve got to look at it. What can I do different to get these guys going?”
Special teams coordinator Jamie Christian was fired following the loss to Appalachian State.
The move comes amid a time of financial uncertainty in college athletics, as Oregon State is set to be part of the refurbished Pac-12 in 2026. Oregon State is adjusting to significantly lower television payouts.
Oregon State made three straight bowl games under Smith prior to his departure, and Bray was a linchpin of that rebuild. Oregon State was ranked as high as No. 10 in the country in 2023.
Bray is a former All-Pac-12 player at Oregon State, an honor he earned in 2005.
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